Phlegethos
From HGWiki
Phleg is the fourth layer of the Hells and requires The Workshop tag to enter.
Rivers of liquid fire rule the land of Phlegethos, and the air is consumed with dancing flames. Abriymoch, the city of hardened magma, obsidian, and crystal lies in the caldera of an almost extinct volcano. The foundation is said to be the grave of a deity slain by Asmodeus. The city offers some protection from the fiery environment, but a legion of more than five thousand hamatula resides there in reserve should a demonic attack pierce this far into the Nine Hells. A pit fiend named Gazra commands the hamatula devils, though he directly answers to the Lords of the Fourth, Fierna and Belial, who reside in Abriymoch in a palace of jagged obsidian.
~ from Volo's Guide to Baator, Abridged, 3rd Edition.
Contents |
Introduction
Phleg sets the stage for the lower layers of the Hells, featuring hordes of Pit Fiends plus all sorts of vulnerability infliction and kickback. It usually takes between 1.5 to 2.5 hours to complete. Apart from dropping some very valuable set items such as Strongheart and the exotic damage AA bows, Phleg also has a fairly good chance of dropping some BUR items.
Party Needs
Phleg needs an effective party and can be harsh to sub-optimal characters. Ideally this party should consist of a Druid, Mage and Cleric along with the required Bard and Tanks. Hamatula's are extremely common so a Druid/Cleric for Heal is useful. Your party also needs a reliable way to dispose of Infernal Machines (Imploder Cleric, Mage, Druid) and Pyrexic Fumes (Imploder Cleric, Druid Sirocco, Arcane gust). Druids are highly desired (some would say necessary) for shunt which gives extra elemental immunties and helps compensate for the increasingly worse Hell Penalties. In previous layers Shunt is a nice safety buffer to have, but around Phleg it becomes near vital for characters without access to good immunity items.
General Guide
| Layer | AB | AC | E:Imm | P:Imm | Sk | Sv | DC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 3% | 5% | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 3 | 6% | 10% | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | 9% | 15% | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | 4 | 6 | 12% | 20% | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | 4 | 7 | 15% | 25% | 10 | 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 5 | 9 | 18% | 30% | 12 | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | 6 | 10 | 21% | 35% | 14 | 4 | 3 |
| 8 | 6 | 12 | 24% | 40% | 16 | 4 | 3 |
| 9 | 7 | 13 | 27% | 45% | 18 | 5 | 3 |
| 10 | 8 | 15 | 30% | 50% | 20 | 5 | 4 |
| 11 | 8 | 16 | 33% | 55% | 22 | 6 | 4 |
| 12 | 9 | 18 | 36% | 60% | 24 | 6 | 4 |
| 13 | 10 | 19 | 39% | 65% | 26 | 7 | 5 |
Fire, Acid, Magical and Positive are the most common damage types you will encounter at Phleg. Acid and Magical are especially important for Tanks since these are the damage types of Pit Fiend kickback. Breach is extremely common across all 3 maps and will require immunity from a suitable item unless you want to run around buffless.
First Map: Flamebreach
Spawns on the first map of Phleg are composed mainly of Pit Fiends, Melbranches, Osyluth, Cornugons, Cinderscales, Hell Hounds, Infernal Machines, Kocrachon, Hamatula, Barbazu, Spinagon and Pyrexic Fumes. Spawns at Phleg are a lot different to previous layers and require new tactics.
Unlike the first three layers of the Hells where Pit Fiends only spawned in randoms or in a boss fight, at Phleg they are in nearly every spawn. Due to their powerful DC (44 - BAC/2) KD check vs Str, Pit Fiends are a priority enemy to destroy. They have much better defenses and regen than other creatures so party members should try to all focus on the same Pit Fiend at once. Casters disabling Kocrachons first can speed up this process as well. Although not as plentiful as Pit Fiends, there are also several Malebranche spawns. Males have a DC (40 + BAC/2) KD Check vs Dex and a DC 42 Death Check vs Dex (Lev ring protects), so are very dangerous enemies. Like Pit Fiends, they should be targeted earliest in spawns. Disarmer characters should make these mobs a priority as once weaponless they provide a much lesser threat.
Pyrexic Fumes are a party-wide kickback enemy like Infernal Machines which also appear on this layer. Both are very common and so parties need to avoid hitting these enemies since each time you do, the entire party gets hit with Fire and Positive damage. Infernal Machines can be destroyed by an implode, stone (paragon machines (Hellfire Engines) are immune to petrification) & crumble, disintegrate or turning (as machines have been scripted to turn after all other creatures have been killed this is not optimal as they cause kickback on a failed turn attempt). Pyrexic fumes require either implosion, gust (often less reliable than implode), turning or shifter dragon wing gust attack.
Another new enemy are Cinderscales, who have a DC 90 Slag Check vs Discipline ability. Slag turns medium/heavy armours, shields and metal melee weapons (nunchucks, quartertaff, sap, whip, sap and club excluded) into a lump of useless metal. If you have a high demi count party, be aware that Paragon (Cinderscale Broodmothers) have a +10 on their skill checks, and an additional +10 for superior, and yet another for elites reaching a 130 DC for slag on Elite Cinderscale Broodmothers.
Characters who use any of the slagable gear listed above need a Discipline score in the realm of 100 to be immune, but don't forget that skill penalties are -8 for an Immortal at Phleg and that Paragon Cinderscale checks are much higher. Ideally you should have 127 Discipline anyway for Nessus. It is a good idea to bring spare weapons/shields/armour just in case you are unlucky. Apart from talking to Zerial after the run, to restore your item you can use a Scroll of Miser, which restores your item on the spot and for half the cost. There are a few set unslaggable items such as the shield Sparten that can be used on characters unable to get their Discipline high enough, although these items often give up a lot in the way of other important properties. Other than the slag ability Cinderscales are incredibly weak and can be petrified, imploded, drowned, wailed, weirded, disintegrated or simply beaten to death.
There is plenty of vulnerability infliction on this layer, mainly from Machines and Fumes, so use lots of restores.
There are two named devils on this map, Sbikta (Osyluth, SW corner) and Zgdros (Hamatula, SE corner). Both drop energy matrixes that need to be used on the portal activators in the NE and NW corners of the map, the portal will open near to whichever activator you use second.
Second Map: Gates of Flame
Spawns on the second map are much the same as those on the first map.
There are two named devils on the second map. The first is Ysgret (Hamatula, SW corner) who drops an energy matrix that opens the energy barrier to reach the second named devil, Beshi'bak (Cornugon, NE corner). Beshi'bak who also drops an energy matrix, this one for opening another energy barrier on the west side of the map.
A note on Demigod count: If your party is carrying a minimum of 15 demi count, be aware that Ysgret will heal off of negative damage and Beshi'bak will heal off off fire.
Third Map: Abriymoch
Spawns on the third map are much the same as those on the last two maps.
There is only one named devil on the map, Gazra (Pit Fiend, NE corner). He will at least be a superior version so it heals on Fire. So prior to this fight tanks must ensure that they have weapons without fire (flame weapon included) to hit Gazra with, otherwise this fight can be extremely difficult. Gazra drops an energy matrix that allows access to the boss room. He also has a rather irritating instakill attack 'Gazra wills you to die' which you'll have the pleasure of experiencing if you fail your save.
The Phleg bossfight requires the entire party enter the boss room at once, so after resting and buffing someone will need to count down so that everyone enters as one, if you get stuck in the room outside a trap activates doing increasing damage until you die. Inside you will be met by Fierna and Belial plus all sorts of other enemies. How you deal with the initial spawn will depend on what actually shows up, so have a range of spells/tactics ready. Focus on taking out priority enemies such as randoms, Pit Fiends, Malebranches, Machines or Fumes first, afterwards you can mop up the fodder and finally tackle Fierna and Belial.
Note: The spawn point for random creatures is just by the entrance doorway to the final room so it is possible that if you get a 'fat' random such as a Pit Fiend, Malebranche or other large creature you may need to use a Miracle to clear the doorway so the whole party can get into the room and not end up stuck in the trap area.
To actually get the Phleg tag you need to be present for the death of both Fierna and Belial, not just one of them.
Class Specific Guides
Tanks
Tanks need to be careful and ensure they don't accidentally hit Infernal Machines or Pyrexic Fumes. Pit Fiends do personal Acid/Magical kickback and Malebranche do personal Electrical/Magical kickback, so you will definitely want plenty of Magical (50% imm, 20/- resist) and Electrical, Acid and Fire Immunity to be able to hit key enemies without needing to drink a heal at the end of each round. Fumes and Machines will constantly lower your immunities so use lots of restores. Priority targets should be Pit Fiends, Malebranches, Kocrachon and Spinagon.
Druid
You should try to get Pit Fiends, Kocrachons and Malebranches NB'd first. After spawns have succesfully been NB'd you can turn your attention to drowning/stoning kocrachons, gusting fumes, stoning machines and doing general crowd control. Elemental Swarm can be effective against a lot of enemies (Pit Fiends especially) but be careful using it in spawns with Fumes or Infernal Machines, since it will create painful party wide kickback. Elemental Swarm will not deal damage in whatever type superiors and elite paragons heal from.
Also, be aware of Cinderscales and their slag checks. They start at a DC of about 90 Discipline so make sure you're either high enough to pass the check or you stay away before you lose your gear for the run.
Arcane Caster
Arcane casters provide a lot of damage output against Pit Fiends through cold orb spells and bigbies. Wail does a very good job of getting rid of lesser enemies such as Osyluth and Cinderscales. Disintegrate is also a very effective and efficient way to destroy Infernal Machines.
Cleric
There is a lot that needs imploding on this layer. Pyrexic Fumes and Infernal Machines are a kickback/vulnerability threat and need to be imploded first. Cinderscales, Spinagon, Barbazu and Hell Hounds are all very good secondary targets to clear out of a spawn but as Heartbane can also be used to kill these targets its often a better option as it has long range so you won't run up to them and you won't waste one implosion on one target if its a 'fatboy' Cinderscale. Destruction can be useful to kill Osyluths when you've run out of implosion targets.
Bard
Pit Fiends and Malebranches both have DC 40+ KD abilities and so will require UUU to keep the whole party on it's feet. Despite your best UUU efforts people will still get knocked down so have pt2 ready. Casting restores and cure wound spells on the tanks is also of great aid since it helps them deal with inflicted vulnerabilities and Pit Fiend kickback. If you have it, it is often helpful to cast bestow on Pit Fiends, Malebranches, Machines and Fumes to make them more vulnerable and less of a threat.
